A Tale of an Aggressive Rabbit

[JadeIcing]

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[align=center]What can you do when you have an aggressive rabbit?[/align]

When you think of rabbits you picture this cute little thing. Something
you can hug, kiss, and just love on to your hearts content. That isn't
exactly true.

For starters rabbits are prey animals. So there is your first strike.
Then add previous owners. Did they treat the animal right? Did they give
them everything they need? Were they handled correctly or even at all?

Asmy then fiancee and I planned our future the topic of animals came
up. I wanted a dog and he wanted a rabbit. Well July 8th, 2005 I had the
day off, feeling a down because my attempts at finding a dog were
unsuccessful. I figured why not call the pet store. Yes, they had a few
rabbits. So when my fiancee came to pick me up, I said we should look. Not
like we had to get one. Of course he held one and that was it. It was a
little ball of white with black fur.

The next day we are surprised with a flemish giant. We knew our friends
meant well, so we would give it a chance. That first day we put the
rabbits together. We named the flemish giant Samantha Jane, the little one
we called Ringo. The first few minutes were ok. Suddenly Samantha
started to chase Ringo. We were shocked but quickly caged her.

At that time I was only at the apartment on weekends. The following
weekend I went to change her litter pan and she nipped me so hard I
screamed. It left a bruise. I figured I scarred her, so I let it go.

I should add that I knew nothing about rabbits, and had no regular
internet.

On one hand we had Ringo. A ball of energy who was the sweetest thing
on this earth. Always exploring. On the other hand we had her, who
nipped me a few times drawing blood. She nipped Ringo a few times. One time
making him bleed. We started to talk about sending her back. It was
hard we had Ringo who was the sweetest thing, still is. Then we had her,
who truly scared me. I would not go near her or her cage. If he let her
out I was in the other room with Ringo. I was scared of a rabbit!

When I found out she was from a shelter I said one way or another I
would keep her. I kept thinking in a few months I would be living there.
We would see then.

We were married October 1st, 2005. By that time we had them three
months. As soon as I moved in I started to do research online and found some
helpful groups who were more than willing to give me all sorts of tips
on how to work with her.

I started by leaving her cage open with treats just out of her reach so
she had to come out. Each time leaving them a little farther. I would
lay down near by hoping she would come to me. I would read, letting her
hear my voice. I eventually was able to pet her. Each time the petting
lasted a little longer. One day while I was sitting on the floor she
came over begging for treats. Thirteen pounds of bunny crawling over me
for treats. She now crawls all over me for fun. She will go to sleep as
I pet her. All this has gradually happened over the last year.

Thanks to Ringo and Sam, we have four other rabbits. Connor Grayson a
dwarf mix, Teresa Mekare a netherland dwarf, Dallas Jinx Jonesa holland
lop, and Elvis Aaron a dwarf mix. Samantha tollerates the other
rabbits but gets along with my dog.

I would say to anyone who is having problems just give it time. Don't
give it up. It's not easy gaining the trust of an aggresive rabbit.
Even if they don't come all the way around it is amazing to be a part of
their life. Rememberthat sometimes it is hard to trust another person.
Now step into that rabbit's paws and see how hard it is to trust someone
who controls your life. Although it seems more like the rabbits control
our life.

---------------------------------------------

Posted this in my blog but I want this timefor it to be more of a discussion. Also this is going to go in the veryfirst newletter of the rescue I fosterfor.:bunnydance:

~~Ali

 

[TinysMom]

I have had the pleasure (ha) of having twoaggressive lionhead does. I had a third one that was aggressive butonly when I would open her cage to check on her babies ... then shebecame "BunZILLA" and attacked me.

My first aggressive rabbit was Miss Bea. Some of you may have seen herphoto and read about her in Tiny's blog or my lionhead blogs. She is ablack & tort (vs. black and orange) harlequin lionhead and Igot her when she was about 10 months old.

We had bought her for breeding and I bred her about 2-3 days after wegot her (big mistake). I should have taken the time to get to know herbetter and have her get to know me.

She was a horrible rabbit. We would open the cage door and she wouldcharge us and snarl at us. The former owner/breeder had told me she wasa bit aggressive (but nothing like this). She felt like she wouldsettle down with time.

You have to understand....Miss Bea was a classroom bunny for most ofher life. She was used to many different people reaching in to feed herand touch her - but I don't think they were all nice to her and I amsure she was scared.

I told my family, "We have 31 days until she has her kits...we HAVE to get her tamed..".

So we all made sure at various times of the day (whenever going throughthe sunroom to let an animal in or out) to open her cage, talk to hersoftly and pet her. When she charged us, we lightly pressed her headdown and said, "No Miss Bea, be a good girl" in a soft but firm voice.

After a few days of this, I realized we needed to not only show her wewere the boss but we had to show her love too. So once she would sit(even if it was backed into the corner), we would lightly pet her orrub her ears. I found out that she loved to have the base of her earsrubbed.

Once she got to the point where she didn't charge us when we opened thedoor...we offered a fruit loop when we opened the door. Maybe noteverytime - but frequently. However, she had to come for us for thefruit loop (we knew she adored having fruit loops).

By the time we got to day 25 or so.....when we would come through therabbitry, she would come to the front of her cage and sit at her doorand hope we'd open it for her and give her a treat. She had evenlearned to love our pets (somewhat). But she really liked the fruitloop!

When she had her kits, she was very territorial (as she should be) andwe had to hold her head down a few times - but not thatmany....and she did fine.

Every once in a while now - if she is caged...she'll get a tad bit meanand charge when the cage is opened. Once her head is held down and wesay, "No Miss Bea" she is fine. I think it mostly seems to happen ifshe is napping and we wake her up from her nap by opening her door'cause if she is awake she does pretty good.

I'm getting ready to breed her soon for one last litter of harlequinsbefore she is spayed. She will be three in August. She is more thanjust a "breeder" bunny...she is a house bunny now. She has a cage sheis locked in at night so she doesn't fight with Tiny's harem (one ofwhich is a blue daughter of hers that Tiny helped raise during thefirst couple of months) ~ because his harem likes to come out at nightand explore since I had some temporary cages set up w/ bucks in themand teh girls wanted to mate really badly.

~~~~

The other aggressive doe I have is Minnie. I've had her since LionheadNationals last year and she has been a major challenge for me. In fact,I was going to sell her at Nationals this year just to move her out andget rid of her....but then I prayed about it and decided to keep her.Here is our story with her.

Minnie fought us from the day we got her home from Nationals. I hadbought her for one of the best reasons of all...she took an award (BestOpposite of *** to Breed) under Pam Nock. WOW...what a reason to get abunny....NOT! I wasn't working with her color at all...but I wanted arabbit that Pam had judged. (Pam...if you're reading this -stop laughing - it is true).

Within the first few days of being home she bit both me and my daughterand tried to bite my husband. She was so aggressive that I didn't wantto go near her cage.

I tried to let her out to have playtime with the girls but she just washorrible - a fight would happen and sure enough - Minnie was the onefighting. Put her back and the girls were all happy and got along fine.

I finally went ahead and bred her this fall because you should breedlionheads before they're a year old...but I honestly wasn't sure Iwanted to breed her. She was horrid whenever I went to her cage and Iwas always afraid of her.

Well...she had her babies. They were ok - not outstanding (except maybefor Foxy Lady) but they were ok. She gave me more mismarks than I amused to. She was ok with letting me work with the babies- and she fedthe babies ok but she wasn't a great mom or what I call a "natural"mom.

I actually listed her for sale on my website back in February and wasbound and determined to sell her. There was no way I was going to useup cage space for a trouble maker like her. I have to say - part of mewas angry - I paid as much for her as I pay for "high quality" breedingrabbits from top breeders....and she was nothing but a bunch of trouble.

Then I got to talking to someone who knew her original breeder. I foundout that the rabbits are caged outside in pens....fed once aday...maybe groomed sometimes to go out to a show...and that was it.

Shortly after that, I watched her as I went to open her cage door. Thatpoor girl was literally SHAKING inside and on the outside a bit. AfterI closed her door, I watched her as she tried to compose herself beforebeing able to go eat.

She wasn't mean. Well - she was mean - by our standards. But she wasSCARED! Even though I tried to always be gentle with her - she wasscared of me. (Ok...I had yelled at her when she bit me).

My heart broke. I had been praying about what to do about her. My fearwas if I sold her - she'd wind up getting eaten by someone who woulddecide there was no way they were going to work with an aggressive doelike her. I felt like seeing that she was afraid helped me understandwhy she acted the way she did. It also helped me decide to keep her.

So I still have her and I may breed her once more for my otter programto see how she does for that. But first...I'm working on justgetting over my own anger towards her for all the times she's chargedand bitten...and just learning to love her.

She no longer shakes when I come to her cage. She still sort of hidesin a corner and watches me. I talk to her before I open her door andmake sure I say her name like, "Its supper time Minnie.." or "Did youhave a good day today Minnie?". It hurts me to leave her caged all thetime but I've become aware of the fact that what I saw as a "treat"(getting out to play) was a major source of stress for her. Ieven put her in an exercise pen all alone on the front porch and shewas stressed by that.

I plan to move her cage (with her in it) to a location by my desk afterNationals. That way - she will see me more often and be ableto observe me. I'm hoping that will help her some.

I don't know that she'll ever get over being aggressive or "mean" inthe eyes of others. She won't come to me for fruit loops and she reallydoesn't care for them. I have yet to find a treat she likes.

However, I have determined that she will live here either until the dayshe dies - or the day I get her tamed enough that she could be happy ina pet home and I find a good pet home for her. It will have to be anoutstanding home where they understand the needs of scared/aggressiverabbits. I suspect she will live out her life here.

It is partly because of Minnie that I'm cutting way back on my breedingand on selling to breeders. Many times breeders will buy a doe, get alitter or two out of her, keep the best of the litter and move the doeon. Within a year or so, a doe can have had 5-6 litters and been in 3different homes.

I can't do that. I won't do that.

The fear in Minnie's eyes (and the eyes of other does who just didn'tunderstand why they were rehomed as adults) has made me think about mydecisions more. I have sold one breeding doe for delivery to Nationalsbut she is pretty easy going - doesn't care about where she is or ifher cage gets moved. She's never stressed and still very young andadaptable.

But most of my does will stay here once they start having litters -unless they retire and go to a pet home that can do more for them thanI do here with my rabbitry and set up for does.

I'm sorry this is so long...but that has been my experience with aggressive rabbits.

Peg

 

[JadeIcing]

Not at all I want people to see all the different ways to work with them. Also to see different stories.

 

[bluebird]

I have seen 2 kinds of aggresive rabbits thosethat got roughly handled and bite out of fear.does that want too breedor have just had babies.the fear biters i just let them chill out withno contact for a few days till they get used too me.i talk too them butdo not pick them up or touch them.after about a week i pick themup.What kind of rabbit is that pictured.bluebird

 

[JadeIcing]

We were told Flemish giant. I just dont think she is full flemmie.

 

[naturestee]

Sprite has been called the most adorable angry bunny ever.

And she is. I found Sprite and her sister Fey through aclassified ad in the newspaper. I had this feeling that theserabbits in particular needed me, and they did. They had urinestains head to toe. The potty corner in their wire flooredcage had a big mound of clogged up poop and fur, wet withurine. That was on top of the wire. The panunderneath had a hole bigger than my fist rusted straightthrough. The wire floor was rusty too. They had themost disgusting poop I've ever seen- soft and as big as their eyes-which the vet said was due to their cruddy food. Their nailswere either long talons or broken painfully short, and their "thumb"claws were curving around and nearly growing into their skin.

And the most telling sign, which we realized when we picked them up theday after we first saw them, was that they were more afraid of theirowner than they were of perfect strangers. After all, theowner had told me on the phone that they try to smack him with theirpaws when he fed them, so he'd just "shove them aside." Andthey had been meant as pets for his granddaughter. I wouldn'tbe surprised if she manhandled them before she grew tired of them.

Sprite has never intentionally drawn blood. But she nips,bats, grunts, and growls. The first day we saw her I wantedto pick her up and check her for parasites and healthproblems. She was in a defensive position in the back of thecage, then lunged and smacked my hand. James tried next, andwas highly amused when she started gnawing on his finger. Shelooked like she was trying to eat his finger like a cob of corn, butshe never broke the skin.

Fey and Sprite were quarantined in their (cleaned!) cage in ourbathroom. So they got used to us walking past prettyquickly. But it took some time for them to come out of thecage while one of us was in the bathroom with them. After afew weeks of sitting on the floor reading books, Fey finally allowed meto touch her. Sprite, on the other hand, was utterlyterrified of hands near her. She started to climb on me andlick me, but if my hand moved she was off like a shot. If Ihad to pick her up, such as for nail clipping, she'd kick and scratchand nip. I tried to get her used to hands by feeding hertreats, which worked a little but she nipped my fingers hard everysingle time. So I had to train her to take treats nicely byputting them on a little platter or spoon for several weeks beforetrying to feed her from my hand again. Now she's usually okay.

Sprite does not like her stuff messed with. She wouldsometimes protect her favorite toys, and when she got really mad aboutmy cleaning she'd throw them around and sometimes growl. So Iencouraged her to do it. I'd touch her toys, which would makethem "unclean" and she'd have to snatch them up and throwthem. Then I started handing them to her. It becamea fun game for her. Although she'll still take her cageaggression out on her toys, she'll also happily play the throwing gamewith me. She tosses them around then stares at me until Ihand them to her or touch them. Sometimes Fey joins her andthey toss the toys to each other and to me.

It's been a year and a half and Sprite still has major issues withhands. Mostly now she's more angry than scared, but she doessometimes hyperventilate when I groom her so I have to do it carefullyand in small doses. She's starting to let me touch her butshe makes it very clear that she's not happy about it, and often gruntsor bats my hand. She is also starting to let me pick herup. Again, she's not happy about it but she knows that I'lljust keep trying until I get her. Bonding with Oberon isreally helping with this because I have to pick her up a lot.If I had tried picking her up a lot from the beginning, I would havejust reinforced her fear. Now that she likes me (and shedoes), it's an irritation that she'll put up with to a tiny extent.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sprite has issues with hands for the rest ofher life. But that's okay with me. I love her, evenif she is a cheeky little monkey.

Here's a video I took the other day. Sprite was being verygrumpy and growly so I thought I'd get it on video. Lo andbehold, she refuses to growl! Although she does bat at myhand once. I also get her to play the throwing game a littlebit too.

 

[JadeIcing]

:XWhy couldnt they give me a small angry bunny? I think Samantha could kill me if she wanted. :shock:

 

[naturestee]

I know that feeling! You never sawTank, the abused 9 lb Palomino that I took care of for 2 weeks during abunny transport. I had to give her antibiotics twice a day,and she made both me and my husband bleed a lot!:shock:

She was actually pretty sweet when you weren't giving her meds,although the poor thing flinched so badly when you touched hershoulders that everyone was convinced she had a fracturethere. Xrays showed nothing, she was just so scared of beingscruffed.

 

[ec]

"A small, angry bunny" - well, I have one of those. or rather, I *had* an angry bunny, but she isn't angry/scared anymore.

I've had Nibbles since early June 2006. She's a 3 lb. Dutch, spunky, feisty and affectionate. But she was also a biter.

I believe she was an Easter dump, also that she's been mishandled bythe people who surrendered her to the SPCA. She was transferred to arabbit rescue soon after she got there, which is why she's still aroundand how I got her.

I think some of her aggression was related to the fact that she'd beenspayed only a few weeks prior to my adopting her. she was very much inher "teen" stage at the time.

She's never been territorial, and from the get-go, she's been playfuland affectionate. But she had a real need to assert hersel as TopBunny, which meant giving me *very* hard nips, daily. Some of thisliterally was due to overenthusiastic grooming, and some of it was, Ithink, because of mishandling. (And shes definitely got a very strongpersonality; is really what I consider assertive rather thanaggressive, though others miht disagree with me).

she's my first rabbit. She ws highly recommended by the folks at theshelter, and I really did *not* want to give up on her. All thepositives of her personality were clear from day one, and I becameattached to her very quickly.

So, with the nipping. Squealing didn't work. Gently pressing her headand shoulders for a few seconds at a time worked to some extent, butnot as much as I'd have liked. I spent hours with her on the floor,scolding her when she nipped, praising her to the high heavens (andpetting her) when she nose-bumped. It took her a couple of months toget this figured out, but there were still days when she got extremelynippy. On those days, I'd have happily done a half-day bunny exchange!

over 2 months into her being here with me, those hard nips began todrive me around the bend. I spoke to the director of the rescue, whosuggested using a spray bottle (set to "mist"). it worked, thoughNibbles was very ticked off about it at first! She came back for more -3 or 4 times in a row - after she first got sprayed. (She wasn'tcharging me - it was more like "How dare you! I'll showyou!"). But after a couple of days had gone by, she started licking mefor the first time ever; also tooth purring (something I never thoughti'd hear). And she got the message that hard nips weren't accpetablebehavior. (I should add that I've always spent a lot of time down onthe floor with her, hanging out, playing, talking and singing to her,etc. - she bonded to me very quickly.)

Now she's well past the "teen" stage, though she's still exuberant andfeisty - and sometimes she still nips, but that's pretty much confinedto when she's *very* excited and has been playing one of her favoritegames, "dig and rearrange the blanket (sheet)." She still loves to"groom" my clothes, and occasionally becomes a bit rough. Butshe responds to the word "gentle," knows how to mouth cloth (especiallyif it's on me ), is very cuddly and is more than generous with"kisses." (i pet her, she licks my hand, then nosebumps me to be pettedsome more, and on it goes.)

There were times I wanted to tear my hair out, and the folks at theshelter once suggeste (very early on) that I bring her back - they weretrying to let me know that I didn't need to feel badly if thingsweren't working out, which I deeply appreciate.

But - from doing a lot of reading prior to adopting her, I knew thatthere were bunnies like her. and I also knew that there was so muchmore to her than those nips.

So here we are. It will soon be a year. If someone had told me (beforeadoppting) that there could be so much personality in a very smallanimal, I'm not sure I'd have believed them. She's like a lioness in abunny body!

And I love her very much. Seeing her blossom and learn to trust me hasbeen one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced.

Would I be willing to work with another bunny like her? I belive theanswer is "yes." Would I be thrilled about it? I'm not so sure, buthaving seen what character Nibbles has - and what love has done (whichgoees both ways!) - I believe I'd want to try.

Would I like to have a laid-back bunny, too? Yes! But not instead of this intense girl - in addition to.

One of the reasons I posted this: Nibbles isn't really an aggressiverabbit - she was a young bunny going through various hormonal anddevelopmental changes, and just happened to have a tendency to nip.Lots of rabbits are mis-labeled as "aggressive" when they're acting intotally appropriate, rabbity ways - it's us humans who are confusedabout what's normal and what's not.

I want people to know and understand that their wild "teen" bun isn'tgoing to be that way forever. And to ask people to not give up on aseemingly difficult rabbit. Chances are, he/she isn't out to "get" you,and might even be afraid of you, or insecure in their new surroundings.it takes time to bond with a new bunny, who needs to learn that you canbe trusted - and that bunny might well have lived in difficultcircumstances before he/she came home with you, no matter *where*he/she came from.

 

[JadeIcing]

Its funny. Onour own we wouldn't havechosen her but we don't regret it. We love her andwe havelearned alot from her. I need to get a picture of her eye. top lid hasliike a slit in the middle.

 

[ec]

The thing is, I've never really felt thatNibbles was aggressive per se - she was still very hormonal when ifirst got her, and hyper - due to her age/developmental stage. once herhormones calmed down, and she got used to lviing with me, she was fine.

I think a lot of "aggressive" bunnies are actually acting in what - forrabbits - is a normal, appropriate way. And I know in my case, theencouragement I got re. patience, time (for things to change) and lovewas right on the money.

I don't think Nibbles will ever realize the damage her teeth can do,but then, I don't expect her to. She's got a thick coat, like mostrabbits, and what might just feel like a very light tap or pinch toanother rabbit will leave a bruise on a human.

it's the same with her marking behavior - she can't resist peeing on my bed, so she doesn't get to go there anymore.

 

[JadeIcing]

I guess it is a matter of how you see it.Samantha still test us, also the way she reacted wasn't normal. Betweenmy rabbit savy vets, and several rabbit rescue people have worked withher and just observed her and they feel the same as me.

She does have a way of worming into your heart.


Glad your girls was hormonal.

 

[ec]

yes, i think what you've dealt with re. Samanthais a different matter - but so many bunnies do get mislabeled as"aggressive" because they don't conform to our expectations of howrabbits should act. (Cute, cuddly, etc.)

so that's the reason I added my story - a perfectly normal bunny goingthrough normal developemental phases who just happened to beextra-nippy. There are plenty like her out there.

 

[JadeIcing]

Yup. Sometimes it is something so simple.

 

[TinysMom]

After reading this thread last night, I went outand petted Minnie just a tiny bit - which was unusual since it wasn'tsupper time. She wasn't sure what to make of it....she let me rub herears and pet her for about 2 minutes even though she was in a crouchedposition....and then she took off for the back corner of the cage - soI let her be.

But I am beginning to think there really is hope for her.

Peg

 

[JadeIcing]

Itold you some of what Samantha did.(I didn't post everything.)If she can get somewhat passed it, it givesme alot of hope for others.

Edit: Next time pet her for me.

 

[ec]

JadeIcing (and all), have you ever checked outDana Krempels' site? She's got a ton of great articles on rabbitbehavior and health.

Here's the story of her first rescue, Maggie, who is 13 now:http://dragonfly.cox.miami.edu/Bunz/klingon.html

 

[JadeIcing]

I read that and wow sounded so familar. For a second there I thought she had my Samantha.

 

[ec]

I'd kind of guessed that, from what you haven't said.

 

[JadeIcing]

She is a Diva.